In response to the numerous posts and question of how to properly clean a KWA inner barrel, hop up, and hop bucking, here are instructions to properly do so. It is important to follow these instructions because refusing to maintain or properly clean these parts can not only result in poor performance, but as well as scratches or jams that could ultimately lead to premature gearbox wear or breakage.

For tl;dr, scroll to the very bottom.

DO NOT's

1. DO NOT use spray cans to lubricate and clean your hop up bucking or hop up (or inner barrel). Many spray cans even the "100%" silicone oil spray cans sold at airsoft stores contain petroleum, which ends up swelling the KWA hop up bucking and results in horrible accuracy and range. (I had to replace my hop up bucking twice before I learned what I did wrong.) It's easier to say, to simply not use any oil to clean your hop up or inner barrel, use water from your tap instead.

2. DO NOT use paper towels, toilet paper, or rough textured or residue leaving material that will end up scratching the inner barrel or leave more residue behind. You can use old cotton t-shirts; however, the best to use are gun cleaning patches.

3. DO NOT clean your inner barrel with the hop up on.

DO's

1. Adjust the hop up to the lowest setting. (HOP UP OFF) Not doing so may unlikely result in a ripped hop up bucking.

2. Gather your included cleaning rod, gun cleaning patches (or t-shirt), and a cup of water from sink(drinking or ionized water if you're extreme)

3. Cut the cleaning patch to a square, fold it so it attaches to the slit of the cleaning rod like a elongated rectangle, and test to make sure if fits somewhat snug into the inner barrel, and then soak the cleaning patch with water.

4. Then, go ahead and clean the inner barrel with the cleaning rod and patch. Try and not force the cleaning rod into the hop up unit; it's better that you leave the hop up bucking alone.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4, until your patches come out clean. After that, take a dry patch and do the same thing to dry the inner barrel, until your inner barrel is dry.

6. (Optional) Disassemble hop up unit. Wash hop up bucking in warm soapy water. Clean the hop up bucking with a q-tip. Clean inner barrel the same way listed in steps 3 and 4. (Easier without hop up attached) Let the bucking air dry, and assemble the parts back into the AEG.

P.S. If you're puzzled about using water instead of oil, I was too at first, but I learned that water gets the job done very well. If you must silicone oil, use the bottled silicone oil that is provided with KWA gbb's, those are true 100% silicone oil and will not swell your KWAs bucking. Also, step 6 of DO's, is a step that new owners of KWAs should consider doing, to quickly and effectively get rid of the packing grease on the hop up bucking, instead of having to fire a few thousand rounds to shoot the grease out.

FAQ's and Response:

1. Does silicone oil do a better job of actually cleaning the barrel than water?

Not necessarily. Silicone oil, since it is an oil, likes to stick to many surfaces. How it chemically arranges itself makes it very difficult to remove with simply water and cloth, without the aid of like a detergent. Keeping that thought in mind, the remaining silicone oil allows the build up of dust and dirt on the materials' surfaces. Also silicone oil if it contains petroleum, which oil spray cans contain, can swell rubber like the hop up bucking, which results in horrible groupings and range.

2. Will water cause my inner barrel to corrode?

Dry the barrel off after using wet patches to clean it; corrosion will not be a problem.

3. My technician or someone knowledgeable told me to clean those parts with silicone oil. Who do I trust?

KWA may very well use different materials. KWA, the manufacturer itself, strongly advised AGAINST the use of ANY (silicone) oil on the hop up, bucking, or inner barrel, whether it is to clean or ease the hop up bucking and IB into the hop unit. You can go ahead and trust unquestioned conventional beliefs that only applies to AEGs, in general, or you can wisely take the word of the manufacturer that knows their airsoft products inside out.

On a side note, regardless of manufacturer brands, I have found cleaning with simply water has done a job as good or if not better than using silicone oil.

4. Can I just shoot the packing grease out of my KWA instead of cleaning it?

Supposedly, you could just shoot the packing grease out of your KWA's hop up bucking instead of cleaning it like stated in the Optional Step 6 of DO's. However, be sure to clean your inner barrel with the methods listed above. Jamming and damaging your inner barrel and possibly your gearbox internals is far more time consuming to deal with, than taking a few minutes to clean your inner barrel after a game.

5. My bucking has already been exposed to silicone oil spray, what should I do?

Whether or not you notice a decrease in performance or lack of a hop up, disassemble the down to the bucking, stated in step 6 of DO's, and soak the bucking in warm soapy water. Let it dry, assemble your unit back into your AEG, and see if the performance improved and is satisfactory. If not, you may need to purchase a new KWA bucking.

6. Is the SCS concave hop up spacer/nub compatible and effective with the KWA 2GX Hop Up bucking?

The combination of the SCS concave nub with a normal bucking set up is to center the bb, giving the bb more centered backspin. The KWA 2GX Hop Up Bucking does the exact same thing except using a spaced out fin design in the bucking itself. By combining the SCS concave nub with the KWA 2GX Hop Up Bucking, the advantageous design of the bucking is negated. In other words, there is no "upgrading" to do.

7. How is the quality of the KWA tightbore inner barrel?

The KWA brass tightbores are actually high quality Japanese-made brass barrels; Since brass is a softer material, these KWA brass tightbore barrels, often referred as micro-hone inner barrels, instead of scratching from bb's passing through, actually smoothen out over time. That is why brass barrels like Dee's have a "break-in" period before they become more accurate. This also means that the more you shoot through your KWA brass tightbore, the more accurate it should get. Now, KWA advertises their tightbore barrel as ~6.05mm, but the tolerances actually vary. What people do not understand that manufacturing precision barrels are difficult to keep within such precise tolerances. However, on the upside, this means that many KWAs could very well be sporting tightbores tighter than 6.05mm. For example, my KWA SR10 tightbore was actually caliphered by the KWA technician, at 6.02mm, making my Edgi 6.03mm, a downgrade...

8. What inner barrels should I purchase to improve my KWA tightbore barrel? How about this or this?

Check compatibility list or ask Customer Service if such after market barrel is compatible. However, keep in mind that KWA inner barrels are already of high quality. What KWA and many users recommend as a good upgrade is the after market tightbores stocked in the KWA Pro Shop, the Edgi tightbore barrel.

8. Which bore should I pick 6.01mm or 6.03mm?

6.01mm should increase your fps and accuracy, and therefore effective range. However, if you are a careless player like me who likes to poke your barrel into sand, mud, and brush, you may want to consider purchasing the 6.03mm so dirt is less likely to jam your barrel.

To be continued? Ask me questions, and I shall try my best to answer them.

tl;dr
Do not use oil. Clean with cleaning rod, water, and gun cleaning patch. Soak hop up bucking in warm soapy water. No advantage to upgrading or modifying the kwa hop up, bucking, hop up nub or tightbore.

Thanks for posting this watermelon! This will clear up any misunderstandings on how to clean your gun. As for putting the cloth in your cleaning rod I would reccomend that if it doesnt fit, insert it in the eye of the rod and wrap it around to make it snug with the rod and it will fit in easier than with it not wrapped around.

this is awesome and will deffiniteley help tons of people. I do have one suggestion though, I would add a link to the thread in the downgrades and modifications section about disassembling and reassembling your hop-up unit but thats just me. it may be helpful to some though.

and YES this deserves a pin!!! if it doesn't then I don't know what does.

this is awesome and will deffiniteley help tons of people. I do have one suggestion though, I would add a link to the thread in the downgrades and modifications section about disassembling and reassembling your hop-up unit but thats just me. it may be helpful to some though.

and YES this deserves a pin!!! if it doesn't then I don't know what does.

It still works fine i am just worried that i may have damage my gun. I was just wondering, if silicon oil was used twice could that substansialy effect thegun or would it hurt the bucking to the extent that it can no longer work?

Interests:Keeping those damn squirrels from putting their filthy little paws on my peaches in my backyard. Oh, Yes. It's not just a hobby, its a passion!!

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Posted 22 February 2011 - 12:55 PM

airsoft3r, on 22 February 2011 - 04:50 AM, said:

It still works fine i am just worried that i may have damage my gun. I was just wondering, if silicon oil was used twice could that substansialy effect thegun or would it hurt the bucking to the extent that it can no longer work?

If everything works fine just leave things alone until it starts performing poorly. Why fix something that's not broken?

I just bought a km4 ris from a friend who had it for a month. He couldn't get it to work and didn't want to fiddle with it. Well its main issue was the magazines. That being solved, I took it outside to test fire it and it shoots just fine, except the hop up doesn't seem to be working at all. I took out the barrel and removed the bucking and hop assembly, and everything seems to be ok. Any ideas as to why there is no backspin on the bbs. using .25 ksc bbs. if fired with the gun level they are hitting the ground at about 100 feet with hop up turned all the way up.